While the world can't stop pondering the delicious evil of the current big bad fads (vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc., [you know all of this]), there has always been one, much more supremely evil "monster" of sorts lurking in the background: the evil robot. Robots were the original weapon of mass destruction. These puppies had the ability to blow up the the entire planet way before the Soviets did. In fact, robots are still scarier than North Korea, because the possibilities are limitless. In a world where science-fiction is a genre of scenarios that have become realities, the evil robot still looms in the minds of many, waiting to come to hostile fruition. So the question is, why are robots so often evil? The benevolent robot is far less common than its counterpart, and often must be "fixed" by a human in order to display sunny "feelings" (think of Robot in Lost In Space).
In 2007, The Sunday Times compiled a list of the 50 best movie robots. These robots hail from many decades and were judged on their merit in plausibility, coolness, dangerousness, and comedic value. Interestingly enough, ALL of the top 10 best robots have at least a 7 out of 10 on the dangerousness scale, whereas 41-50 tended to weigh in strongly on the coolness or comedy aspects with low danger ratings. The number one robot (I'll give you a hint: the way he handled the economy of California is almost scarier than his robot-y promise of, "I'll be back") even scored and 11 out of 10 on the dangerousness scale (correction: coolness scale, nfoltz). Perhaps we, the living, breathing homo sapien sapiens, are still trying to be prepared for what could happen, and we might even be delighted by the possibility of something we just can't outsmart. It's also easy to see how, assuming robots could express and internalize some kind of "feeling," they might be a little pissed that they have traditionally been used as slave labor or ostracized as aliens.
In the 1953 film //Robot Monster// (commonly thought to be amongst the worst films of all time), the very hairy Ro-Man is hell-bent on destroying the entirety of Earth's population, and is not satisfied knowing that there are 5 people left alive. Ro-Man is significant not simply because he is lusty for the kill, but more so because he needs to kill EVERYONE. The ideas that no one is safe, no prisoners will be taken, and your children will be murdered in front of you are really quite scary things. Even H.G. Wells couldn't help but explore these frightening thoughts before the 20th century even began.
Slightly more comically, people everywhere lie awake in fear every night, secretly praying that their female partner isn't a dreaded Fembot. Yes, the Austin Powers Fembots are just as scary as other types of evil robots. Why? They're sexier. They don't look like they can take you in one on one combat. They definitely don't appear to be made of bolts and wires. But, they most certainly want to love you to death. These robots embody the modern fear that the evil can be among us, anywhere, even in our bedrooms, waiting to strike at any moment in time. Though we teach ourselves not to be afraid of the ordinary, Fembots really do give us reason to question whether we live in a world where a hostile takeover can happen without our knowledge, and if we're really safe at all.
Overview
While the world can't stop pondering the delicious evil of the current big bad fads (vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc., [you know all of this]), there has always been one, much more supremely evil "monster" of sorts lurking in the background: the evil robot. Robots were the original weapon of mass destruction. These puppies had the ability to blow up the the entire planet way before the Soviets did. In fact, robots are still scarier than North Korea, because the possibilities are limitless. In a world where science-fiction is a genre of scenarios that have become realities, the evil robot still looms in the minds of many, waiting to come to hostile fruition. So the question is, why are robots so often evil? The benevolent robot is far less common than its counterpart, and often must be "fixed" by a human in order to display sunny "feelings" (think of Robot in Lost In Space).
In 2007, The Sunday Times compiled a list of the 50 best movie robots. These robots hail from many decades and were judged on their merit in plausibility, coolness, dangerousness, and comedic value. Interestingly enough, ALL of the top 10 best robots have at least a 7 out of 10 on the dangerousness scale, whereas 41-50 tended to weigh in strongly on the coolness or comedy aspects with low danger ratings. The number one robot (I'll give you a hint: the way he handled the economy of California is almost scarier than his robot-y promise of, "I'll be back") even scored and 11 out of 10 on the dangerousness scale (correction: coolness scale, nfoltz). Perhaps we, the living, breathing homo sapien sapiens, are still trying to be prepared for what could happen, and we might even be delighted by the possibility of something we just can't outsmart. It's also easy to see how, assuming robots could express and internalize some kind of "feeling," they might be a little pissed that they have traditionally been used as slave labor or ostracized as aliens.
In the 1953 film //Robot Monster// (commonly thought to be amongst the worst films of all time), the very hairy Ro-Man is hell-bent on destroying the entirety of Earth's population, and is not satisfied knowing that there are 5 people left alive. Ro-Man is significant not simply because he is lusty for the kill, but more so because he needs to kill EVERYONE. The ideas that no one is safe, no prisoners will be taken, and your children will be murdered in front of you are really quite scary things. Even H.G. Wells couldn't help but explore these frightening thoughts before the 20th century even began.
Slightly more comically, people everywhere lie awake in fear every night, secretly praying that their female partner isn't a dreaded Fembot. Yes, the Austin Powers Fembots are just as scary as other types of evil robots. Why? They're sexier. They don't look like they can take you in one on one combat. They definitely don't appear to be made of bolts and wires. But, they most certainly want to love you to death. These robots embody the modern fear that the evil can be among us, anywhere, even in our bedrooms, waiting to strike at any moment in time. Though we teach ourselves not to be afraid of the ordinary, Fembots really do give us reason to question whether we live in a world where a hostile takeover can happen without our knowledge, and if we're really safe at all.
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